June 28, 1914

On June 28, 1914, a teenage Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, as their motorcade maneuvered through the streets of Sarajevo. His death quickly set off a chain reaction of events culminating in the outbreak of World War I.

Passchendaele 1917

The battle took place in the Ypres Salient area of the Western Front, in and around the Belgian town of Passchendaele. From July until early October 1917, British and Australian soldiers had attempted to capture the German occupied Belgian coast. By early October, however, only minimal advances had been made and the Allied troops were near exhaustion. In the fall of 1917, Canada’s army, after their great success at Vimy Ridge that April, was sent north to Belgium.
The Canadian Corps was tasked with relieving the exhausted II Anzac Corps, continuing the advance started with the First Battle of Passchendaele and ultimately capturing the town of Passchendaele itself.
Ypres was a very difficult place to fight. It was a region largely made up of flat, low land that was kept dry only with a series of dykes and drainage ditches. Three years of heavy fighting had destroyed the drainage systems. The ground, churned up by millions of artillery shells, turned to sticky mud when wet. In 1917, the autumn rains came early and turned the battlefield into a sea of mud, the battlefield was transformed into a quagmire that made movement and life in general extremely difficult. The mud was to become one of the defining features of the battle for soldiers on both sides. Stories of men and horses getting stuck in the mud and slowly sinking away, never to be seen again, where not uncommon.



On October 26, the Canadian offensive began. Success was made possible due to acts of great individual heroism to get past spots of heavy enemy resistance. Advancing through the mud and enemy fire was slow and there were heavy losses. Despite the adversity, the Canadians reached the outskirts of Passchendaele by the end of a second attack on October 30 during a driving rainstorm.
On November 6, the Canadians and British launched the assault to capture the ruined village of Passchendaele itself. In heavy fighting, the attack went according to plan. The task of actually capturing the village fell to the “City of Winnipeg” 27th Battalion and they took it that day. After weathering fierce enemy counterattacks, the last phase of the battle saw the Canadians attack on November 10 and clear the Germans from the eastern edge of Passchendaele Ridge. Canadian soldiers succeeded in the face of almost unbelievable challenges.
The Second Battle of Passchendaele cost the Canadian Corps 15 654 casualties with over 4 000 dead, in 16 days of fighting. Nine Victoria Crosses, the highest military decoration for valour awarded to British and forces, were awarded to Canadians for actions during the battle.



Today several different nations' war cemeteries are found in Passchendaele. The Tyne Cot Cemetery (the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world), the New British Cemetery, the Canadian Memorial, and the New Zealand Forces Memorial.

A Short History of Sport Fishing.

Fishing for food has been around as long as human evolution. Some of the earliest evidence of this can be seen in rock shelter carvings of fish before 10 000 BC. An Egyptian angling scene from about 2000 BC shows figures fishing with rods and lines and with nets. The earliest known depiction of a man using a fishing pole with a reel comes from a painting done in 1195 by Ma Yuan called Angler on a Wintry Lake. It shows a man sitting on a small sampan boat while casting out his fishing line.

How or when fishing for “sport” came about will never be known for sure, however the earliest identified English essay on recreational fishing was published in 1496, shortly after the invention of the printing press. It was titled Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, and was published in the second Boke of Saint Albans, a book on hawking, hunting, and heraldry. The article included detailed information on fishing waters, the construction of rods and lines, and the use of natural baits and artificial flies. It also contained issues of conservation and angler etiquette. It is of interest that this essay was written by a woman, Dame Juliana Berners, who was the prioress of the Benedictine Sopwell Nunnery. This writing was much read during the 16th century and reprinted many times There where however concerns at the time by the publisher, and the nobility of the day that such a book should be kept from those who were not gentlemen, since their lack of control in angling might "utterly destroye it".

Izaak Walton first published The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative Man's Recreation in 1653, and continued to add to it for the next quarter of a century. Modern editions still appear and it is considered a celebration of the art and spirit of fishing in prose and verse. The first fishing reels appeared in England around the same time as The Compleat Angler, and until the 1800's they where not much more than storage place for excess line. George Snyder of Paris Kentucky is generally given credit for inventing the first fishing reel in America around 1820. It was the equivalent of a simple bait casting reel. The key advance of this reel was the mechanical action; each turn of the handle of a Snyder reel produced four turns of the spool.

Dr. Charles Frederick Holder, who was a marine biologist and conservationist, and is now considered an early pioneer of “sport fishing”. By 1898, he had published many articles and books on the subject that where noted for their combination of accurate scientific detail with exciting narratives which helped to widen the appeal of the sport.

Today recreational fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry, and according to a 2000 survey, there were 3.6 million active anglers in Canada. So let’s get out there and continue having sport with fish.

History Quote

"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."

~Machiavelli~

The Gotha Bomber

The Gotha was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. Designed for long range service, the G V series was used principally as night bombers. The Gotha bomber was produced in the autumn of 1916 when the limitations of the Zeppelin as a raider had become obvious. The German High Command ordered that 30 Gotha bombers were to be ready for a daylight raid on London on February 1, 1917, but the machines were not ready until May. The first daylight raid on London was carried out by 14 Gothas on June 13, 1917. On July 7, 22 Gothas raided London. Night raids began in August of 1917, and continued until May 1918, when they were abandoned because of the increasingly heavy losses.

Johnny Bright 1930 – 1983

During his four years at Drake University, Johnny Bright lettered in three sports and was a four time All-American. Coming to Canada, his first two years with the Calgary Stampeders saw him often injured and he was traded to the Edmonton Es...kimos in 1954. In his career he garnered the CFL rushing record by gaining more than 6 miles of yardage - in each of 5 seasons he attained over 1,000 yards rushing. A Western Conference All-Star 7 times, he was named the CFL's most outstanding player in 1959. Johnny contributed greatly to the famous Eskimo teams of the mid-50's who won th Grey Cup in 1954, 1955 and 1956. In 1970 he was named to the CFL Football Hall of Fame.

"Johnny" Bright, a powerful fullback, gained 10,909 yards in 13 Canadian Football League seasons with Calgary and Edmonton. He was top rusher in the West four times and a Western All-Star seven times. "Johnny" Bright was an Edmonton Eskimo contributing to three straight Grey Cup wins in the 1950's.

Deerfoot

Deerfoot is the legendary Blackfoot runner who raced in the1800's, and was said to have outrun horses and riders, and left other runners choking on prairie dust. His real name Scabby Dried Meat, or Api-kai-ees, was changed to Deerfoot by white sports promoters to convey the image of an Indian running fleetfooted across the plains. Deerfoot started running as a messenger during the 1800's for the Blackfoot Confederacy, racing between camps in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana. His prowess as a runner came to the attention of foot-race promoters in Calgary. Deerfoot eventually raced amateur and professional runners in anything from 400 meters to 16-hour races. Challengers from around the world came to Calgary to test their abilities against him. In 1886, a champion distance runner from England, a runner from Ottawa, and Deerfoot competed in a 16 km race. The race was billed as the major sporting event of the year and was covered by media from as far away as New York. With the corruption in sports promotion involving the gambling syndicate, and feeling betrayed, Deerfoot left his promotion team in 1886 to run as an independent. Deerfoot died in 1897 after contracting tuberculosis.